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Johnson, Signe (Morocco)

 File — Box: 37, Folder: 27

Scope and Contents

From the Collection:

The Bethlehem Baptist Church collection spans the dates from 1875 to 2002 with 61 boxes. Notes that were donated with the collection, including contextual documents and inventories, are in a folder called Processing papers.

The Christian Education series contains information about Sunday School classes, Bible study classes, and other forms of Christian education taught through the church. Several ledgers are included in this series, many keeping track of Sunday School attendence.

The Finances series contains many ledgers of financial information. Records from the Board of Trustees are kept in a sub-series. The Education Building sub-series covers the 1940s and 1950s and holds information about funding the construction of an expansion to the building. Checks and receipt information is included in this series, with many loose checks and receipts from different purchases also.

The Thanksgiving series consists of six large folders of compiled Thanksiging prayers from congregation members from the years 1981 to 1986.

The Glada Budskapet series holds records from the Good Tidings Society, which was a young women's missionary group at the church. The Ebenezer Society was also a women's missionary society at Bethlehem, but aimed for women older than the members of the Glada Budskapet, which had branched out of the Ebenezer Society. The ledgers in both series primarily deal with financial records and meeting minutes.

The Directories also hold the church financial reports. This series contains a mostly full run of annual directories between 1900 and the 1950s, with a few missing issues. There are some in later years as well, but with more missing issues.

The video "Glory Days: Rememberances of the Old Sancuary" is on VHS and has not been digitized. The tape also contains "When Swedish Was the Language of Heaven: First Swedish Baptist Church of Minneapolis 1871-1945." There are also two silent films by Wilford Anderson from 1941 and 1946 on the tape, originally from 16mm film. The films show Anton Sjolund, Elsie Viren, Elliot Park neighborhood prior to the freeway construction, and youth outreach during the 1940s.

The Annual Reports series spans from 1932 to 1997, with the exceptions of 1940-1952, 1959, 1979, and 1989.

Education for Exultation: A Vision of the People of Bethlehem Baptist Church is a binder from about 2000 holding material regarding the vision for the future of religious education and mission at Bethlehem and the education building.

Daughter churches of Bethlehem include Edgewater Baptist Church of Minneapolis, Ham Lake Baptist Church, Berean Baptist Church in Burnsville, Minnehaha Baptist Church in Minneapolis, Elim Baptist Church in Minneapolis, Oak Hill Baptist Church in Columbia Heights. Nokomis Baptist Church was absorbed into Bethlehem. Two binders of material from Ham Lake Camp are included in this series.

The Bethel Baptist Church series contains information from Bethlehem's daughter church Bethel in Minneapolis, spanning 1896 to 1961. The majority of the series is made up of church ledgers. The Calls sub-series consists of two ledgers recording house calls made by church staff. Membership was listed on card files, as well as in a ledger. The Finances sub-series kept track of the various church funds, primarily during the 1940s and 1950s. The Minutes sub-series recorded meeting minutes for the church's organizations. Bethel printed its church services and news on a bulletin, later officially named the Bethel Bulletin. The Bethelite newlsetter was a monthly newsletter from the church during the 1950s. The Calendar and Yearbooks are small booklets for the church, containing member information and short organizational reports. Edith Lindberg wrote a weekly newsletter to Bethel members in the military during World War II, starting in 1942 and ending in 1945. Two folders of loose papers related to Bethel Baptist Church contain information such as programs, newspaper clippings, and memos. One folder of loose papers from other institutions and topics is also included, containing bulletins from other churches, Bethel Seminary and College, Baptist General Conference meetings, and ephemera. The photographs sub-series hold folders of pastor portraits, pictures of Edith Lindberg's 90th birthday, Bethel reunions, displays at Bethlehem, and long rolled photographs of the congregation. Finally, there is a black metal embosser stamp for the church.

The World War II series consists mostly of correspondence with servicemen. Many of these letters were to Elsie Viren in the church office. There are also lists of members and their addresses, used to keep track of where to send correspondences to from the church. Many newsletters are included, especially Good News newsletter, specifically from Bethlehem to their members. The services folder hold mostly bulletins from church services, including some memorial services for dead servicemen. The photographs are mostly of unidentified servicemen. The series also holds two banner flags, one with the number of servicement and the number of gold stars represented at the church, the other with individual stars representing each serviceman. Bethlehem Baptist had five gold stars amongst their members, or men killed in the war.

Military information from the Korean and Vietnam conflict eras are represented in two folders, consisting mostly of correspondence with Elsie Viren, but also lists of servicemen and other ephemera.

Elsie Viren kept many church records during her time working as Church Missionary at Bethlehem Baptist Church, which are kept in the series under her name. The Corresponce sub-series is filled with various letters, mostly to Viren, but some between other correspondents, including Pastor Anton Sjolund. The Dear readers/friends newsletter was written and sent to subscribers by Viren for several decades until her retirement. Other church secretaries continued to send out the newsletter in Elsie's name during the late 1980s. The Funeral Bulletins consist of obituaries, bulletins for funerals and memorial services, and some death notifications from church members. The Missions sub-series holds correspondence and newsletters from missionaries and mission organizations. The Lee and Ida Lovegren files detail their work in China, as well as Lee's imprisonment under the communist government. One missionary family, the Stauffers, were victims of kidnapping, and their mission file contains news clippings of the event. Several files from Odette McAviney, church employee and friend of Viren, are kept in this series, containing correspondence, cards, and other things kept by McAviney, and photographs featuring former sunday school students. The Religious Education subseries holds materials involving Vacation Bible School, Sunday School, bus records from Bible school, and other adult education classes. Several files document the work of the Constitutional Committee during the mid-1940s, which revised and developed the church constitution, by-laws, and discussed changing the name from First Swedish to Bethlehem. Various anniversary celebration documents are kept from important church anniversaries from 1931 to 1961. The Membership sub-series holds three membership books recording members names and addresses, as well as several folders letters to confirm or request membership.

The Missions series holds several issues of "Missions in Minnesota", a publication of the Baptist General Conference, from the 1950s. There are four notebooks of meeting minutes from Bethlehem's Mission Board, dating from the 1940s and 1950s. One file deals with the Missionary Council of Women, containing meeting minutes and the organization's constitution. The Kachin file is from the Burma Mission Station in Bhamo, and has missionary correspondence, especially from Ola Hanson. It also holds documentation of Bethlehem's relation with the Kachin Baptist Convention.

The Esther Nelson series covers her mission work in Sichuan, China. The majority of this series consists of artifacts from her time abroad, with one box dedicated to documents and papers. There are many textiles in the series, including embroidered clothing, table linens, and different national flags. A box of shoes holds wooden platform shoes and clogs, and small children's slippers. The scrolls are mostly wall hangings of various forms of artwork, including painting and embroidery. One painting was done for Nelson by artist Chen depicting his emotion under Japanese occupation. Various other artifacts include handheld fans, a handheld scale, a gong, chopsticks, bamboo flutes, small doll-like figures, and an abacus. Several glazed pottery figures and dishes are included. A long snakeskin, skinned from the snake, is also in the collection, identified as a python by Bethel's biology department.

Dates

  • 1875 - 2002

Extent

From the Collection: 75.5 Cubic Feet

Language of Materials

From the Collection: English

From the Collection: Swedish

Creator

Repository Details

Part of the The History Center: Archives of Bethel University and Converge Repository

Contact:
3900 Bethel Drive
Arden Hills MINNESOTA 55112 United States